Deluded council worker funnelled £80k to pals so they could write off loans and pay for cocaine and sex - but one daft mistake saw the plot unravel

A deluded debt-ridden council worker - who fancied himself a 'criminal mastermind' with a fool-proof get-rich-quick scheme - funnelled £80,000 to pals so they could write off loans and pay for cocaine and sex.

Matthew Ravey diverted cash from town hall accounts, first for himself to avoid payday loan companies, then for friends.

The Rochdale council officer emailed one mate: "I have used it on three loans I had in the past. Two have been written off completely…BOOM xx.."

Police said Ravey, 28, thought he had come up with a 'fool-proof' plan to 'get rich while avoiding his debtors'.

But one daft mistake saw the scheme unravel - he used his work computer and work email.

A bit of bad luck on Ravey's part also led to the plot being smashed.

He has now been jailed for a year and six months having admitted three counts of fraud and one count of theft.

Rochdale Town Hall (Image: Rochdale Observer)

Minshull Street Crown Court heard Ravey, of Weir Road, created false insolvency documents for himself and friends while working at Rochdale council, in an attempt to avoid reimbursing payday loan companies he was in debt to.

His career at the town hall began in October 2013, when he was hired as a council business rates officer, earning just under £18,000.

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There were seven transfers to Michael Frames, 28, of just under £15,000. Frames was an NHS employee at the time, and arranged the fraud using his NHS email account. He has since left the NHS.

In total, £73,232 was transferred to his friends including Daniel Merriman, 27, and Rigby.

Ravey’s work computer was found to contain fraudulent insolvency documents. And emails were recovered incriminating him.

The investigation revealed that he used those documents to obtain arrangements from loan companies to avoid paying off what he had borrowed, either having the loans written off or repayments on them significantly reduced.

'He thought he was some sort of criminal mastermind'

Following the hearing, Detective Constable Sarah Langley of GMP’s Fraud Disruption Team, said: “It’s clear from correspondence that Ravey imagined himself as some sort of criminal mastermind who’d concocted a fool-proof plan to get rich while avoiding his debtors.

“But frankly, the decision to use his employer’s email address to orchestrate it was one of many frankly bizarre factors in his ill-considered scam.

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Rigby, of Windmill Court, Rochdale, was sentenced at a previous hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on 4 February 2019 to complete 64 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to one count of money laundering.

Hurst, of Chorley Old Road, Bolton, was sentenced at a previous hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on 21 November 2018 to complete 100 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to one count of theft.

Merriman, of Hurstead Road, Milnrow, was sentenced at a previous hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on 8 January 2019 to complete 80 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to one count of money laundering.